Indeed!
Ok, if it says Active Dry, then I guess they want you to use that.
Instant Dry Yeast (IDY) is sold sometimes as “Bread Machine” yeast. The difference is that instant yeast can be added to recipes in the dry ingredients, whereas Active Dry usually requires “proofing” first in sugar water or similar. Also, IDY is more potent; you use less of it.
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I just ordered some Instant Yeast. I will see if that solves this mystery. I wasn’t proofing the active dry yeast as I’m a newbie in the bread world lol.
Thanks!
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Sure it’s all good! But shucks, if you are following THEIR recipe, it should work 
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Yeah, I agree. Maybe they assume people know to proof the yeast (which I wasn’t doing). I’ve sent them an email to hear their take on what’s happening. They’ve been amazing for support so far. We’ll see.
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This has been my frustrating experience Mr. Clint. I’ve experimented with retards, proofing time and temp, etc. I find it’s a trade off - I can get a very flavorful / sour loaf that is slightly dense or a loaf with great rise and texture but a dull flavor. Still searching for that perfect middle ground.
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There is definitely a window of opportunity thing when it comes to bread. This makes it hard to get great consistent results as a hobby baker because life happens.
I’ve often wished for like a bread laboratory where you can control every variable.
Gives me a lot of respect for pros and how they can churn out consistent bread on a large scale.
I tried your Grandmother’s recipe, but converted it to sourdough. Turned out amazing. Thanks for sharing.
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Man that sure looks pretty.
I show my Mom.
Thanks, Travis.
Dax
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beautiful loaves all. I have not eaten bread at home in years, or any grains for that matter, but there are two things i really miss: bread and ice cream. We used to do the Bittman bread, too, so it is real bread that I miss…
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That loaf looks so good, can you elaborate on your process a bit, to change to your recipe.
Sure, I wrote down the weights as I was doing it. We ate that whole loaf at one meal!
Sourdough Swedish Rye Bread
470 g - Boiling Water
22 g - Water
455 g - Milk
200 g - 100% Hydration Active Sourdough Starter
22 g - Sea Salt
120 g - Brown Sugar
230 g - Molasses
56 g - Butter (melted)
225 g - Rye Flour
1300 g - Bread Flour
Add milk to the boiling water to bring the temperature down. Stir in the starter, brown sugar, molasses, butter, and extra 22 g water. Add rye flour and mix. Then, add in the rest of the bread flour. Mix until dough comes together and is mixed well. Let stand for 30-40 min. After that time sprinkle on the salt and knead the dough until smooth (about 5 min).
Bulk ferment until doubled in size. Mine took about 5 hours. Divide and shape into loaves. Each loaf was about 740 g. Put into greased loaf pan. Let double in size (~4 hours). Then, bake at 350 degrees for about 45 min. Butter the top when it comes out of the oven (optional).
I did this with half the recipe. The other half I left to retard in the fridge overnight and baked in my Dutch oven @ 450 degrees covered for 20 min then uncovered for 10-15 min. I have a convection setting on my oven so my times might be a little different.
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Thank you!
Great looking bread.
I was expecting it to look a little darker, with the molasses and brown sugar. What kind of molasses did you use?
I was probably thinking about the times I’ve used blackstrap.
This is the kind I used: https://www.grandmasmolasses.com/product/original-molasses
I think it was dark brown sugar though. I’m not sure if there’s a difference in rye flours? I just ground my own. I don’t use it very much.
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i made the bittmen recipe but it came out really chewy. what did i do wrong?
Was the crumb from the dutch oven loaves similar to the one from the bread pan?
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Arg, that’s a big question.
When you say chewy do you mean tough or gummy?
Travis, thanks a lot, I am going give it a go. Can,t pass this up, Bob.
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I bake bread weekly for our family and bake some to give to friends as well. Been baking breads for 20+ years. What I bake on a regular basis are simple white sandwich loaves, French, sourdough, dinner rolls and hamburger buns. I have some favorite recipes I haven’t baked in awhile. This might inspire me to dig them out and enjoy some more good bread!
These are French loaves from a few weeks ago, forgot to take pics of the sourdough loaves.
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